A hockey RPG? GreatNESS. I remember Hit the Ice, but I didn't know it comprised a quest mode. I generally tuned out sports games, except for cool oddities like Baseball Simulator 1.000 and Cyber Stadium Base Wars. I must try it out.

Reminds me of this tennis game I have- the first, and quite possibly only, Tennis RPG- Namco(t)'s World Court Tennis for the TG-16. (They must have a penchant for sports RPGs, eh Red?) It was so awesome in it's cheesiness... your quest is to defeat the "Evil Tennis King", and along the way (like Final Lap Twin, I presume), you purchase new equipment and fight in random battles on a world map in true RPG style- except the battles are tennis matches. And some of your opponents have horrifying portraits. My cousin and I used to come up with unflattering nicknames for them, like Scary Mutant, Beast Woman, etc.

Heh, I should write an article about WCT someday. If you haven't played it, I highly recommend doing so.

I picked up final lap a few months ago and despite being a bit..simple I really liked the concept.

I'll definatly try to find the tennis one (a sport I actualy like)

its amusing that the rpg element is the big fad with the current crap---err crop of big sport titles now.
in fact , Nintendo Power had a thing in epic center this month that compared sport games to arepeegees very amusing read ;-)

This game is alright, though admittedly with flaws like mentioned in the review. Can't compare to Ice Challenge or Blades of Steel, but the RPG mode is quirky enough that it's worth a playthrough at least once. Play control isn't very good though. Then again the arcade Hit the Ice wasn't all that great anyways.

Still very glad to see this game available now. When I saw this game years ago in Nintendo Power years ago, I became interested in trying it. Only naturally I was unable to find the game in stores anyway, for obvious reasons. I think that was the firsthand experience I ever had with encountering an unreleased game.

Picture it, Nintendo Power, 1992. I, a lad of only eight years, see Hit The Ice. A sports RPG......an RPG involving sports! I was completely amazed. And then, sadly, no release. Flash forward twelve years to this site and I see Hit The Ice! Wow! I can live in Hockey RPG love forever..or at least an hour or two.

I am truly in your debt for the next two to four minutes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.